Almost a year after a blaze gutted the Glasgow School of Art's Mackintosh Building, the architects who will lead the painstaking restoration of the library have been announced.

Page\Park Architects have been chosen from a shortlist of five firms who bid for the role earlier this month - and the design team will now begin working on a detailed plan for the restoration of the library.

And these stark pictures show the mammoth task they face to restore the much-loved building, designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, to its former glory.

The Glasgow-based architects were chosen thanks to their extensive track record in both restoring and reinvigorating major historic buildings - as well their work on buildings designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

Work is expected to begin in the spring of next year and it is hoped that students will have access to a fully-restored building from 2017 or 2018.

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The architects who will lead the painstaking restoration of the Glasgow School of Art's Mackintosh Building have been announced

The century-old library at the Glasgow School of Art designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh was gutted in May last year

Glasgow-based Page\Park Architects have been chosen from a shortlist of five firms who bid for the role earlier this month

Professor Tom Inns, Director of The Glasgow School of Art, said the firm was chosen because of its work on Mackintosh-designed buildings

Professor Tom Inns, Director of The Glasgow School of Art, said: 'This is the beginning of an exciting journey of discovery. There will be many fascinating questions to be addressed as we undertake this complex restoration project.

'The team assembled by Page\Park Architects impressed us not only with their deep knowledge of the building, but of the wider work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

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'They also bring an understanding of the building's particular importance to Glasgow – its people and history - as well as of its status as an international design icon.'

He added the firm has ongoing relationships with key crafts specialists and artists in Scotland and wider afield, and 'presented exciting proposals for expanding the legacy of the restoration by working with a new generation of creative talent'.

Prof Toms added: 'We are looking forward to working in partnership with Page\Park Architects and the design team to explore how we can best meet the needs of the GSA in the 21st century whilst remaining true to Mackintosh's astonishing vision.'

The blaze began on May 23 last year after flammable spray foam for a student artwork was sucked into projector fan and caught alight

The fire started in the basement, where undergraduate students were putting the finishing touches to their final year art show

Firefighters in breathing apparatus stood shoulder to shoulder to forming a human line between the inferno and the unaffected sections

Thousands of damaged pieces of building material have been marked in the hope that experts can put them back where they were before

David Page, Head of Architecture at Page\Park Architects, said: 'Page\Park Architects are delighted to have won the commission to lead a team to restore the world-renowned Charles Rennie Mackintosh Glasgow School of Art.

'We have, over many years, had the privilege to work on and in the context of the Mackintosh legacy, the highlight of which will now be the opportunity to bring The Glasgow School of Art into splendid re-use for its students and staff, the people of Glasgow and the huge audience beyond the city.'

The company has worked across the spectrum of Mackintosh's designs from the domestic, including the School of Art itself and the former Glasgow Herald offices, which is now The Lighthouse.

The Mackintosh Building was damaged last year after a blaze sparked when canned spray foam, which a student was using for an art project, drifted into a projector fan and caught alight.

The building caught fire on May 23, starting in the basement, where undergraduate students were putting the finishing touches to their final year art show.

Blackened stones from the library's walls have been numbered with chalk. The building is considered by critics as Mackintosh's finest work

Firefighters were able to save irreplaceable paintings and furniture by Mackintosh after curators showed them pictures and and told them where they could be found

A student had been using highly flammable canned spray foam to fill in the gaps in a piece which involved three large sheets of thick foam, which formed three 'walls' framing a fourth blank wall, onto which a digital projector was beaming images when the spraying took place.

As the fumes from the spray foam spread around the room, they were sucked into the cooling fan of the projector and caught alight as they wafted over the heat of the circuit board.

The fire engulfed the basement room and spread to destroy much of the iconic building's west wing.

Witnesses described firefighters in breathing apparatus standing shoulder to shoulder, forming a human line between the inferno and the unaffected sections of the art school in a bid to prevent the blaze from spreading.

Other firefighters then darted in and out of the building to remove irreplaceable paintings and furniture by Mackintosh after curators showed them pictures and and told them where they could be found.

Despite being insured for £50million, art school chiefs will receive much less because the east wing was almost completely untouched

The art school is continuing its efforts to raise £20million to pay for the restoration of the building and its fire-damaged contents

No one was injured in the fire, but there was extensive damage to the Grade A-listed library, the equivalent of Grade I listed in England

No one was injured in the fire, but there was extensive damage to the Grade A-listed library, the equivalent of Grade I listed in England, which was described by critics as Glasgow-born architect Mackintosh's greatest work.

Thousands of damaged pieces of building material, including blackened stones from the library walls, have been removed and numbered with chalk in the hope that experts can put them back exactly where they were before.

After a six-month investigation, the incident was described as a tragic accident by the art school's leaders.

Despite being insured for £50million, art school chiefs will receive nowhere near that amount, because the east wing was almost completely untouched by the fire.

However, they have already received £5million from the Treasury in Whitehall, £1million from fundraisers and another £1million in match funding from the Scottish Government.

And the school is continuing its efforts to raise £20million to pay for the restoration of the building and its fire-damaged contents.

After a six-month investigation into the fire, the incident was described as a tragic accident by the art school's leaders

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New architects to restore Mackintosh Building at Glasgow School of Art